Els Club Teluk Datai is carved through a rainforest in the shadow of the Mat Cincang mountain range on Malaysia’s Langkawi archipelago. (Image: Els Club Teluk Datai)
More than 200 courses are now operating throughout Malaysia, a nation of astonishing geographical diversity. The newest headliner is the Els Club Teluk Datai, an Ernie Els design that wends through a rainforest at the edge of the Andaman Sea.
Ernie Els presides over the official opening of his first Malaysian design. The course is part of the Datai Langkawi resort. (Image: Ernie Els Design)
Joined by the Queen of Malaysia, Ernie Els unveiled the Els Club Teluk Datai, his highly publicized reconstruction of the former Golf Club, Datai Bay.
“This is, without doubt, the most spectacular golf course setting I have had the pleasure of working on,” Els said at the club’s launch October 28, 2014. “I am delighted with what we’ve achieved.”
Els Club Teluk Datai would go on to be named the best course in Asia at the 2015 World Golf Awards in Faro, Portugal.
Originally opened in 1992, the course is situated in the northern part of Langkawi, an archipelago of 99 islands about 30 kilometres off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. Managed by Troon Golf, the 6,760-yard layout is part of the Datai Langkawi resort, which sprawls through a rainforest on the edge of the Andaman Sea. Towering over the course are the limestone peaks of the Mat Cincang mountain range.
Els has built his fairways invitingly wide, although the dense jungle that frames much of the routing will—or should—encourage high-handicappers to leave the driver in the bag on many holes. Especially memorable is the 17th, a 162-yard par three that skirts the seashore.
The Els design is the first of three Malaysian golf developments planned by the resort’s owners. (Image: Els Club Teluk Datai)
The Els Club Teluk Datai is the first of three Malaysian golf developments planned by the resort’s owners, Destination Resorts and Hotels Sdn Bhd (DRH). The other two developments are currently under construction in the southernmost state of Johor.
More than 200 courses are now operating throughout Malaysia, a country of astonishing geographical diversity. Courses are found high in the mountains, along the seashore, on tropical islands, in towering rain forests, and in the heart of major cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru.
During the official opening, Els struck the ceremonial first tee shot in the company of Her Majesty Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajjah Haminah.
